Holy moly it's been a while since I've blogged. I was super busy with baking. Too busy to even update my baking blog! Despite things being a bit crazy and having that cut into my blogging time, I didn't let that interfere with my health quest. (Even in posting this, I noticed that I had drafted a post many months ago!! I had meant to edit and then post it and totally forgot. Oops!)
So what's new? What's new with you? How is your journey coming along? Mine has been pretty good! I’ve had a few bumps along the way, but I’ll explain that below. I was given some extra motivation last year when I found out my best friend was getting married in
Then it dawned on me... I'm going to
So, despite an insanely busy year, I kept at it. I stayed as consistent as I could in my gym days going three to four nights per week. I continued to make healthy choices in my eating. I continued to try. What else is there to do? I'm not into extreme dieting. I refuse to be drastic and starve myself. That's not my thing and it's NOT healthy. That is not something I would recommend to anyone.
Do I have a six pack yet? Aw hellz no! Lol. But, I've lost 6% body fat and have gained 6% in muscle mass! I consider that a win!
Am I still feeling insecure? At times, yes. But... I have to keep reminding myself that I'm doing what I can with what I've been given. I've learned that I may not be the smallest or have the thinnest/flattest waist and that's okay! Why? Cuz I am damn sure I work hard and despite the moderate squish in my middle - I'm strong! Stronger, healthier... Better. And at the end of the day, that's all I want to be.
Am I still going to rock a bikini? Hellz yes! You don't have to looks like a super model to wear a bikini. We all come in different shapes and sizes. We need to embrace who we are, what we look like - rolls, skin, stretch marks, lines, whatever! Be you! Be confident. And I'm going to do my best to practice what I preach.
So how have I been working out? Well, five months ago I sustained a partial TFCC tear. A what?! A triangular fibrocartilage complex tear. Basically a partial tear to the cartilage in my wrist. Painful? Sure is! The pain is really bad some days. It’s sharp and alarming and I’m wishing it left as fast as it came. It's keeping me from my yoga Thursdays, from progressing with my weights, from trying new exercises and from some pretty amazing body weight exercises. It's been an immensely frustrating journey. The tear is still there. I've received treatments but nothing is really helping. I just have to wait or out. I'm allowed to workout but with the use of a wrist brace. I have to avoid or modify body weight exercises and free weights. I have to stick to machines for now. Can you say boring? Despite this, I keep going. I find new ways to challenge myself. It’s slow going, but hey – my legs are stronger than ever! lol
This tear may be frustrating and painful and I’m doing everything in my power not to aggravate it or make it worse, but I’m not letting it be an excuse for me to do nothing. The rest of me still functions just fine and there’s no reason I can’t run or swim or ride my bike. My gym days are still my gym days and I don’t really stray from that. I may have to move one here and there, but I still go. No matter what.
I know my body, I know the genetics I’m dealing with and what I have to fight against to be healthier. I know that if for one week I give up on that, it’s all going out the window. It will be so easy for me to fall into couch potato mode and lose all the good things I’ve been striving so hard to attain. Is that worth it? For me, it totally is.
I think these days people are so caught up in the “quick fix”. Everyone wants to get rich quick, get thin quick. These things take hard work and dedication. You have to be strong and strategic… you have to try. I used to feel frustrated when I wasn’t seeing results as “quickly” as I thought I should. I learned that there’s no quick way… I have to be consistent and work hard. That’s what it all comes down to. Genetically I may never have a six pack. *shrug* Who cares? Am I healthier than I have ever been? Am I still working hard to be better? Yes and yes.
I recently became very upset with my family. Our families (and friend’s families) have suffered quite a few losses in the last little while. Some of which could have been avoided, I think. This made me think about my loved ones… This made me scared about losing them!! Angry, fearful, worried – I sent them all an email begging them to try harder. I want them to live longer and live better lives! Lives that are free of pain and medication! I told them as much… and was met with silence. Basically no one had anything to say on the matter. It was like I was speaking a different language or had two heads. When I’ve brought this subject up before, everyone acts like it doesn’t pertain to them or they have valid “reasons” for not being healthy. Despite whatever limitations you have, there’s no reason you can’t try to be healthier. I’m pretty convinced of this.
I get that this is something they have to want. I get that they have to come to this realization themselves and they have to want to try to be healthier. But am I mad anyway? Yes, I am. I want so much for them and I’m always met with resistance. Their lack of effort, drive, will – it scares me more than anything. How can they be so complacent? How can they just sit there and waste away? How can they be okay with that? Maybe that’s not at all the case and there’s more going on that they’re not telling me – but I just wish for once that one of them would get off their ass and do something.
I resent them for sitting around and wasting away because it’s “too hard”. It may start off hard, but it doesn’t stay that way forever. It gets easier. I wish they could see that. Or I wish that they would try… I wish they would want to. I hate that they’ve been given so many chances to change their lives for the better and they haven’t used them. I hate thinking that by the time they learn, it’s going to be too late. I’m sick of the excuses and the backlash. I just want them grow up! Man up! Start taking care of yourself! But they are not ready to care yet. And until they are, I’m not wasting my breath anymore.
I’m focusing on me.
You can bring the horse to water, but you can’t make it drink… and so I wait and pray nothing happens to them.
I do feel we all have a responsibility to ourselves to take charge of our health. There are some things that are out of our control and other things that aren’t. Do your best. Find the right balance for you in your own mental, emotional and physical journey. Don’t sit around and wait for some magic pill or the “easy way”. Get started. Get moving. Just try.
